Tlze Search for La Salle, 1685-1689
the exploration by land was the Governor of Nuevo Leon, who was at this time the Marquis of San Miguel de Aguayo. The viceroy adopted the recommendations of the Junta and on January 20, 1686, he instructed Aguayo to send out an expedition in search of the French. For his infor- mation the viceroy said he was sending him copies of the instruction given to Barroto and Romero and also of the reports concerning the location of the salines discovered in the territory beyond Monterrey several years before. 22 Thus were the first orders for an advance by land into the eastern limits of present day Texas issued by the viceroy less than a year after La Salle landed in Matagorda Bay. These orders were to culminate in the establishment of the first missions in East Texas. Although it is safe to assume that the natural expansion of the northern frontiers of New Spain, which had already penetrated beyond the Rio Grande at various points, would have eventually resulted in the occupa- tion of Texas, it cannot be denied that La Salle's episode caused the frontier to jump from the Rio Grande over an expanse of more than four hundred miles to the Trinity and Neches Rivers and hastened the founding of missions in that remote area. For- some unexplainable reason, however, the orders of the viceroy, issued on January 20, 1686, did not reach the Marquis of Aguayo until June 8, and to make matters worse the copy of the instructions of Barroto and Romero were not included. With but a vague idea as to the location of Espiritu Santo Bay which he was asked to find, and unable to secure any information from the residents of Monterrey, Aguayo called a Junta of the leading settlers of the furthermost outpost of the province. On June 11, twenty-five or thirty frontiersmen, veterans of many an Indian fight, assembled in Monterrey. Although most of them had penetrated into the unexplored regions beyond the frontiers of Nuevo Leon, not one of them had ever heard of Espiritu Santo Bay. They concluded that it must be towards the north or northeast, and they agreed that since the danger of the French was of serious consequence to the best interests of the king, an expedition should be organized immediately to explore the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It was decided that fifty men should be raised and equipped and assembled in Cadereita at which time the Gov- ernor was to appoint a competent leader. The expedition was then to proceed directly to the junction of the Rio San Juan and the Rio Grande, and from there, it was to follow the latter to its mouth and explore the
22 Auto de acuerdo, December 3, 1685; Respuesta fiscal, December 20; Junta general, January 20, 1686, in Ibid., pp. 61-77.
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